Chapter One
Gala
Princess Luna stared into the mirror, greatly saddened. I shall never be as beautiful as Celestia, she thought grudgingly, flinging her hairbrush at the mirror. The brush collided with the mirror with a dainty chink sound, and the mirror split jaggedly down the middle. Luckily, it did not break into any more smaller pieces, because then it would have been a lot more difficult to fix with Luna's magic.
Once the mirror was whole again, Luna sighed, slouching down on the cushioned chair. With her drab, plain bluish-purple complexion and pale blue, limp hair, she could never amount to enough to challenge the looks of her pretty sister.
Princess Celestia had white fur with a signature pinkish sheen, that complimented her fuchsia eyes. She had a shimmery, flowing flamingo pink mane and tail, that was beginning to be invaded with gorgeous streaks of sky blue and cool pastel green.
Princess Luna and Princess Celestia's brother, Prince Vladimir, hadn't gotten the short end of the stick either. He was stupendously handsome, the object of the fancies of all of the mares in Equestria. His had a shiny silver coat and a curly black, white, and red mane and tail. His eyes were the same gold of their father's eyes.
The two princesses and the prince's mother and sire were also very well-looking. King Aelius was cloacked with the warm red, orange, and yellow radiance that resembled the firey might of the sun that he commanded, while Queen Theia was graced with the cold purple and blue hues of the moon under her power. Both were admired all throughout the kingdom.
While Luna was surrounded by all of these completely gorgeous family members, how had she ended up being so dull?! If only she knew, she would take that reason and stomp on it until it was a pancake. This thought comforted Luna.
Tonight was the night of the annual Grand Galloping Gala, a celebratory ball that was held in the palace in Canterlot every year. It was the first one that Princess Luna was allowed to attend, because now she was thirteen. Her father, King Aelius, had proclaimed it inappropriate for her to go to the party at an earlier age, as it usually lasted until midnight, and young Luna might not be able to handle the formal festivities.
Luna had endured lecture after lecture from her mother on the decorum that was expected a princess such as herself and exactly how to perform before the nobles of the court. It seemed impossible that she could forget any tiny detail about exactly how to pick up a soup spoon, and a word-by-word conversation to have with a lord or lady after those endless, boring lessons.
Princess Luna had been sitting here in her bed chambers trying to beautify herself for the last two hours with no such luck. If anything, she was more homely than when she had been when she started, because her hair was a frizzy mess, her nose and eyes were reddened with tears, and her face was covered in black smudges from a failed make-up attempt.
There was a loud rap on the door. "Thou may enter," Luna mumbled, rubbing her eyes. The door opened and Embroidery, one of Luna's many mares in waiting, flew in.
"The Gala begins in half an hour! Art thou not ready? Whatever be the matter, thy highness?" the pegasus filly asked, racing to the princess's aid and retrieving a damp rag to cleanse her face. Luna squirmed as the servant mare wiped away the smudged face paint.
"I am not pretty," Luna said softly, starting to cry again. The maid pony shook her head.
"Nay, that is nonsense, young mistress Luna!" Embroidery clucked disapprovingly, dipping the rag back into the pitch of heated water. "Thou art the most prettiest filly ever!" The hot rag felt pleasant on Luna's chapped, tear-stained face.
"I thank thee, Embroidery," Luna whinnied. "Will thou helpeth me prepare?"
Once finished cleaning off Luna's face, the orange and green pegasus gently brushed out her mane and tail until they were untangled and soft. She tied Luna's blue mane up into a bun, and used one braided strand to wrap around it, and then massaged oil into her hair to restrain any flyaway pieces, and give it a sleek, shiny effect. For her face, Embroidery painted her lips a sparkling pink hue, and dabbed pale pink powder onto her cheeks with a plumy feather brush. Then she used a kinky, fine brush to slick black ink into onto her eyelashes, making them fuller and darker, and lastly, she accented her eyes with silver and white paint.
Luna had had a dress tailored specifically for the Gala. The gown was gorgeous; fantastic and yet simple, graceful and yet modest, majestic and yet humble. It was strawberry red with silver trim, transparent balloon sleeves, a netted over-skirt, and a very long train.
Embroidery helped Luna daintily slip into the dress as to refrain from messing up her flawless face paint. It was smooth and comfortable against her skin. Then the servant mare fastened a ruby barrette in the shape of a crescent moon behind her ear.
Luna looked in the mirror. She actually kind of looked... beautiful. "Oh my..." she whispered, struggling to find words to voice her delight. "I- I look-"
"Thou art not pleased? I may deepen the accent behind thy eyes, if that would pleaseth thee, thy highness!" Embroidery cut in anxiously, adding another puff of powder to Luna's cheeks as a finishing touch. Luna shook her head, smiling.
"Nay, Embroidery, I am most pleased. Again, I thank thee," Luna said gratefully. Embroidery blushed, fetching Luna's obsidian tiara. Luna scowled. She resented her tiara; it was so plain, boring, and ugly. She hated the color black, but everypony always said it looked so well on her. And she had to wear her tiara, because it was a mark of her nobility.
The mare in waiting placed the crown atop Luna's head, delicately nestling the serrated bottom edge into her mane, so it would be less likely to fall off. Princess Luna cleared her throat and straightened her posture, sticking her nose in the air, pacing back and forth across the room, modeling her new look.
"Thou art most nice-looking, thy highness!" Embroidery crooned, clapping her front hooves together. Luna had to agree as she admired her reflection in the mirror again. The maid pony had done her job well.
The door was flung open. An Earth pony servant colt stood before the chamber, his face darkening with embarrassment as he realized that Luna had still been getting ready. The servant colt bowed.
"I- I beg thy pard- don, thy highness, Madam," he stammered, tugging at his bow-tie self-consciously. "But her majesty the queen requests thy presence most immediately!"
Luna whirled around to look at the grandfather clock. It was five minutes past eight o'clock. She was late.
"Dragon scat!" Luna cursed, causing Embroidery to startle at her use of words. Using telekinesis, she snatched up her royal scepter, and soared out the door, in two much of a rush to use her legs. She could only pray that her mother and father would be merciful.
She found Queen Theia, along with King Aelius, Prince Vladimir, and Princess Celestia, in the corridor just beyond the grand staircase, awaiting Luna so that they may descend together as a family for their presentation.
Queen Theia nearly growled with rage when she caught sight of Luna. "How dareth thou engage in such carelessness?! 'Tis already five moments past eight o'clock!" she snarled, bearing down on Princess Luna. Luna shrank down, wishing that she could just disappear into thin air.
"I- I apologize for my carelessness, Mother," Luna whispered, cringing. She could hardly ever look her mother in the eye, because she was so terrified to just find nothing but utter disappointment. Queen Theia didn't love her. She loved Vladimir and Celestia. What had Luna done to be unworthy of the queen's love?
Queen Theia snorted. "Of course," she muttered temperamentally. Luna continued to stare at the floor. The announcing servant pony poked his head through the curtains.
"Art thou ready?" he asked in a hushed voice. King Aelius nodded. The servant pony disappeared back behind the drapes. "Presenting your most gracious ruler his majesty King Aelius!" he called, his voice muffled to Luna's ears by the fabric dividing the hallway from the ballroom.
The curtains parted, and King Aelius pridefully glided down the steps, his blue waistcoat complimenting the golden hint in his pale fur. The large room erupted with cheers as he paused at the base of the staircase.
"Her ladyship Queen Theia!"
Luna's mother gracefully followed her husband. The ballroom was immediately filled with "oohs" and "ahs" as the famous beauty entered.
"Lastly, the royal heir and heiresses! Presenting Prince Mesyats Vladimir, Princess Celestial Skies, and Princess Luna Corazon de Hielo!"
Vlad and Celestia began the descent down into the great room. Fortunately, Luna was paying attention, and she was swift enough to be right behind them. Princess Luna prayed that her dress looked pretty as she carefully pattered down the marble stairs. She was rewarded for her cautiousness, for when she glanced out at the ranks of ponies staring at her, she was met with expressions of awe. Of course, most of the attention was fixed on Celestia's radiance, but Luna knew, if she had done something wrong, everypony would be gaping at her like she had committed a crime or something.
The musicians began playing dull, melancholy tunes that did nothing except worsen Luna's mood. For once could they play a lively folksong, or at least increase the tempo?
Luna, along with Vladimir and Celestia, sat down at the great long table near the end. King Aelius sat at the head of the table, and directly to his right were seated Queen Theia and Vladimir. On the left, were Celestia and Luna. Luna's mouth watered as she gazed over the incredible spread that lay before them. Everything in Equestria that was good to eat, and Luna wasn't even meant to eat much. She was supposed to daintily partake in a miniscule share of a maximum of five dishes. Luna guessed that overall, there were hundreds of variants of food amongst the feast.
"We welcome you to this year's Grand Galloping Gala, Equestrians!" King Aelius began, using his traditional Canterlot voice. It always made Luna's ears ring, but perhaps that was the designated effect. "We thank you for your attendance to this very special occasion. As you know..." The king drawled on with a seemingly endless speech, including mentioning that this was Luna's first Gala, at which point that everypony turned to Luna's direction. Before it ended, Luna thought that she may faint from lack of food. At last, her father closed with, "We shalt not uphold you all no longer! We invite you to dig in! Let the feast begin!"
Luna piled food onto her plate, probably more than she should have, judging from the dirty looks her mother kept shooting at her, including a blueberry scone, a heap of creamed corn, a sour-dough biscuit topped with butter and peach preserves, a scoop of mustard greens, fried sweet grass, and a mug of ginger ale. And she enjoyed every bite and sip. After the meal, she wanted to curl up and sleep off her bloated belly, but the night was far from over.
After the enormous supper, the plates were cleared away, and the lords, ladies, dukes, duchesses, barons, and baronesses all sat around and conversed of what Luna thought were the most boring topics to talk of. Who wants to hear one statement concerning the architecture of so-and-so's manner compared to the architecture of so-and-so's castle, let alone an entire conversation?
But she endured it all, surprisingly. Even when a rusty old retired guard started babbling, "Does Princess Luna have any interest in charting and illustrating the flaw's in an earth pony's anatomical system prohibiting the use of magic?" He had raised an eyebrow at the princess and took another swig of whiskey. Luna smiled at him.
"Nay, sir," she had quaintly replied. Then the old stallion had started off about "young ponies these days hath no brain" or something of the sort.
She wanted to squeal with relief when Queen Theia leaned over the table, and whispered, "Luna, thou go to dance with somepony. That will make it appeareth as though thou are enthusiastic to engage with thy subjects." Luna nodded eagerly, overjoyed for an excuse to get away from the amazingly boring nobles, and fled from the table.
Vladimir and Celestia were already dancing, Vlad with a pretty Earth pony filly, and Celestia with a snooty-looking unicorn colt. They swayed back and forth to the soft, slow melodies emanating from the music ponies' instruments.
Luna searched around the room, searching for a suitable colt to dance with. There was that homely Earth pony colt trying to catch her eye, Luna thought she remembered that he was the son of some very wealthy duchess. Luna did not want to be seen anywhere near him. There was a also a very handsome teenage pegasus colt that must've been about four years older than Luna, very easy on the eyes. But he was deep in a hungry flirtation with one of the servant fillies. Luna watched the pegasus colt's hoof slide backwards and eventually touch her flank. He was not Luna's type.
Luna abruptly noticed another colt, a unicorn, standing by the wall, dressed in a simple-yet-expensive-looking black vest, with dark red-orange fur and a combed yellow mane. He was staring at her, but when she met his eyes, he bashfully looked away. Luna smiled. He was her type.
Princess Luna sauntered over to him, making sure walk smooth and deliberately to enforce a sense of superiority, the way Queen Theia had taught her. She saw the colt looking at her from the corner of his eye, slowly turning redder as she neared. Eventally she reached him, and he looked up at her, kneeling slightly.
"Hello," Luna cooed, leaning against the wall casually. Up close, she noticed that the young stallion had vibrant green eyes.
The unicorn cleared his throat, and stood up straighter. "Yes, my lady?" he inquired politely.
What a gentlecolt! Luna thought. She flicked her pale blue mane across her shoulder, saying, "Would thee liketh to dance with me?" The orange colt's eyes widened.
"Nay, thou dost not understand! I'm not-" he protested, but Luna didn't let him finish.
"Come on, it shall be fun!" she promised, winking and offering her hoof. The colt swallowed and bit his lip.
"Art thou serious?!" he asked again, looking alarmed. Luna rolled her eyes playfully, and grabbed hold of his hoof before he had the chance to object again, and dragged him to the center of the ballroom where the dancing was taking place.
This next song was a well-known, familiar Canterlot dance, so luckily it seemed that Luna's dance partner knew it well. He was an even better dancer than Luna, which wasn't really saying much, because she was awful at it.
It started with a bow, and then the female dancer would take four steps backward, and two steps forward. The male dancer would take two steps backward, and then four steps forward. This was repeated three times, and then the two partners would lock front legs and whirl around until the two were back in the same place as they started. The choreography was similar from then on, very simple and easy, but still moderately fun.
By the time the dance was finished, Luna was nearly breathless, and feeling incredulously light-hearted. Her dance partner looked to be enjoying himself as well, taking on a dreamy expression.
As the music faded, the unicorn colt bowed deeply, and broke away from her. "Thy highness, I thank thee most gratefully for dancing with one so lowly as me. I had never envisioned that one day meet thee, let alone dance with the princess of Equestria!" he whinnied. With that, the colt boldly kissed her hoof, and trotted away, still looking quite dazed.
Luna smiled to herself, feeling warm and fuzzy inside. The colt's words moderately confused her. How could be be "lowly" if he was attending the Gala? Perhaps he was simply being modest.
Luna turned to see her siblings. Celestia was staring at her in bewilderment, her jaw hanging open to match her wide eyes. Vladimir was eying with curious interest, and his expression said that he was intent on questioning her for her behavior.
Luna looked confusedly back at them. Whatever could be the problem? she wondered. Perhaps they art simply envious of how well I performed. I expect Mother and Father will be pleased. But as her gaze met theirs, she only saw shock and disgust that mirrored that of Celestia and Vladimir.
Queen Theia stomped angrily up to her, her hoofsteps echoing on the marble tile. It wasn't until now that Luna realized that the room had gone quiet, and all eyes were on her. What was going on?
The queen glared down at her, her turquoise eyes flaming, and used her magic to levitate Luna up off the ground. Suspended and frozen, Luna couldn't even utter a peep of protest. And like a little foal, she was drifted out of the ballroom.
Theia slammed the door the behind them, still stomping, and dropped Luna to the ground. She landed with a painful clatter, rubbing her flank to soothe the bruising.
"By the moon, whatever did I do?!" she whinnied angrily, standing up to be nose-to-nose with her mother.
"Thou art perfectly aware of what thou hath done!" she spat, spraying Luna's face with warm droplets of saliva. Luna used her hoof to wipe the spittle away. Spitting while speaking was not like her mother. She must've been extremely mad.
Theia stepped away from her, and began to pace back and forth in the hallway. "Do not try to convince me that thou art innocent! Your father and I art furious! Dost thou not understandeth what making a fool of us in this way will mean? We shalt be the laughing stock of Equestria!"
"I most certainly do not have any idea of what thou art speaking of! Whatever have I done?" she demanded, beginning to wonder if something had been slipped into her mother's goblet during the feast.
The alicorn mare continued to pace. "Thou could hath choseth to dance with the Earl of Manehattan, or Duke Winterberry's youngest son, or anypony, but thou choseth to dance with a servent pony!"
Luna nearly choked. "I did no such thing!" she growled. "I danced with-" Luna paused, and realized that it made sense. The pegasus colt she was dancing with was wearing the black vest that was customery for all of the catering staff to wear. He was very confused when she had asked him to dance, and made an effort to extend his gratitude. And now that she had dance with him, everyone was angry at her. How had she not noticed all of that?
"Dragon scat," she muttered, luckily not loud enough her mother to hear, or else she may have been skinned alive. "But, Mother, I did not know-"
"Whatever dost thee mean?" Queen Theia snapped, cutting her off. "How could thou not know? Why can not thou ever do anything correctly. Whatever is wrong with thee?"
"But- but-" Luna stammered, at a loss for words. How could she not know? Why couldn't she ever do anything correctly? What was wrong with her? All these questions bounced around in her head until she didn't even know what was what. "It's not my fault..." she trailed off, unable to come up with an explanation.
Queen Theia stopped pacing, glowering fiercely at her. "How is it not thy fault?! Explain this to me, you stupid filly!" she snarled, the volume of her voice increasing.
Luna stepped away, stung, as if she had been slapped. She looked around wildly, searching for something to blame. "It is- It is Celestia's fault!"
Theia rolled her eyes, groaning loudly. "Whatever does any other this matter have to do with Celestia? Don't deny this any longer, Luna-"
"Why dost thee hate me so?" Luna blurted. The words had tumbled out of her mouth unbidden. Her mother stepped backwards, as if she were the one being hurt.
"What...? I- I do not hate thee!" she exclaimed defensively. "I love thee, Luna! Thou art my daughter!"
"Nay, Mother, thou dost not love me," Luna continued. Now that it had started, there was no way to make it stop. "Thou dost hateth me! Whatever hath I done to deserve thy hatred? Always, thou does not express thy pride or affection for me! I am ridiculed by thee, and punished, and scorned! Why, pray tell? Thou loveth Vladimir and Celestia, but thou dost not love me."
"Nay, Luna," Queen Theia denied in a soft voice, not meeting Luna's eyes. "I love thee. I am sorry that I hath made you feel this way, but I do not understand-"
"No, Mother! Thou dost not love me! Thou art not sorry! Thou dost not understand anything!" Luna's voice had risen to a shout now, and her eyes were watering.
"Luna-!"
"No! Go away from me!" Luna screamed, and broke into a sprint, racing down the corridor, blinded by tears. Her mother did not follow.
I'm sorry for this terrible dailogue! I'll get better at it, I promise. Anways, you can expect the next chapter sometime this next week, and it should be updated accordingly to my schedule. I hope you liked the intro and the first chapter, and I hope you'll look out for the next one!
-Jez D. W.